Category Archives: Featured

Living in Texas one becomes accustomed to many different things. One in particular is people’s obsession with beer and the other is with hot and spicy foods, which often includes peppers. On a recent grocery trip to our local Central Market, we saw that it was time for the “Hatch Chile Festival”. I’ve heard of Hatch Chiles before, but never cooked with them, so I was curious. I did a little research and learned that Hatch Chile Peppers come from Hatch, New Mexico. In addition to their flavor, Hatch peppers are unique because they have a short growing season and are normally only available a couple of months per year.

I saw specialty hatch salsas, hatch chile breads and even hatch tortilla chips. I had to find out what the craze was about, so I found myself picking out hatch chile peppers to experiment with a new recipe. Lucky for me, I discovered one the yummiest peppers I’ve ever had. I found that this shrimp recipe showcases both beer and hatch peppers in a bold and flavorful way and hopefully you will come to love it just as much as I do!

Ingredients

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1 lb Shrimp – Clean and deveined

8 0z Pale Lager (I’ve used both Corona and Landshark for this recipe)

Juice of 2 Limes

2 Cloves of Garlic

1/4 Cup Cilantro Chopped

1 Hatch Pepper (Seeded and roughly chopped)

1 Tsp Salt

1 Shallot Roughly Chopped

1/2 Tsp White Pepper

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

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Directions

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Combine the ingredients (except the shrimp) and mix in a blender until smooth. About one minute on high.

Cover shrimp with marinade and let marinate 30 minutes to 1 hour in the fridge.

When the shrimp are ready to cook, heat a frying pan on medium heat.

Add the shrimp and add half of the remaining hatch chile marinade.

Cook on each side 2-3 minutes. You can tell the shrimp is done when it turns pink.

Remove the shrimp from the pan, but leave the marinade.

Cook the remaining marinade for another 5 minutes and allow it to thicken.

I love pulled pork, but who has the time and attention to smoke a pork shoulder? Luckily, all you need is a crock pot, about 15-20 minutes to prep and some patience, and you can have a delicious pulled pork.

Directions

Place pork in crock pot. Pour in 1 cup of any dark cola into your crock pot. Do not pour it directly on the pork to avoid washing off your dry rub. We use Jarritos Mexican Cola because it has no high fructose corn syrup.

Add chopped onion and cilantro

Coat pork with BBQ sauce

Cook the pork for a total of 8-10 hours with crock pot on low. The pork is ready when it pulls away from the bone and shreds easily.

After the pork is done cooking, use two forks to shred the pork. I also like to remove some of the fat when I’m pulling the pork. I also add a table spoon or two of BBQ sauce for a little extra flavor.

Finally, place on a bun and enjoy!

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Do you have a favorite crock pot recipe? Share it with us in the comments.

Recently featured in Bon Appetite as the best BBQ in America, Franklin BBQ has quickly become the talk of the town. With lines forming at 9 a.m. and BBQ selling out as early as 1 p.m., I was extremely excited to get the chance to try it out. Think five year old kid on Christmas Eve excited. My wife and I both had a random Thursday off together, and what better way to spend time together than to eat great food!

The one to two hour wait sounds terrible, but time seemed to pass quickly. I’ve waited in longer lines at Disney World with the end result being much less satisfying than Franklin BBQ. We met some interesting people while waiting including folks who’d driven in from Houston just for lunch and Diana even made a new four legged friend. It’s all part of the Franklin BBQ experience.

Most of the line was in the shade, but the worst part of the wait was the 15 minutes we had to spend standing in the sun shortly before we made it inside the building. Thankfully, there were waitresses selling reasonably priced Shiner and Lone Star (it’s OK to drink beer before noon in Texas) as well as other cold beverages. Once arriving at the counter, you are greeted by Aaron Franklin himself. Friendly and enthusiastic, you can tell he takes pride in his food and it shows.

Did the BBQ live up to the hype? Absolutely. The thing that amazed me the most about all the meats was that I made it half way through the meal before I realized I wasn’t using sauce. If you are a BBQ sauce lover, they do have a variety of tasty BBQ sauces including an espresso sauce with a distinguished flavor. The meat was all so moist, well-seasoned and had such a great flavor there was no need for sauce (even though all their sauces are delish).

The brisket was moist, perfectly seasoned and had an enjoyable smoky undertone that doesn’t overpower the meat.

The turkey (my wife’s favorite of all the meat options) was probably the best turkey I’ve ever eaten.

The ribs fell right off the bone and had a mouthwatering flavor.

The sausage was great, but it would be hard to order sausage as a substitute for the ribs, brisket or even turkey. I’d recommend ordering an extra link on the side instead of as a substitute for the other meats.

The pulled pork sandwich combined pulled pork, coleslaw, pickles, onions and tasted as good as it looks.

The sides were a great compliment to the meat.

The potato salad was simple featuring a mustard base, perfect for non-mayonnaise eaters like my wife.

The coleslaw was tasty. At first glance, it looks like your average creamy coleslaw, but looks can be deceiving. The coleslaw includes a tangy flavor with a hint of vinegar.

The beans were good for beans, but I’d have a hard time passing up the the other sides.

I would highly recommend Franklin BBQ to anyone. If you’re going to go through the trouble of waiting in line, plan ahead. Bring a camp chair and have a cooler in the car. Order a ton of food and then pack your leftovers in the cooler on the ride home. My wife and I did this and we’ve been eating off of our leftovers for a couple days. It reheats very well.

A couple of weekends ago, I took my mom out to the 1st Annual Fulbrook Cork and Culinary Festival for Mother’s Day. We had a great time eating a ton of great food (see our Facebook album here), but also saw several cooking demos while we were there. Top Chef Season 2 Winner Ilan Hall demonstrated how to cook lamb ribs. I’m a sucker for good ribs, so this was the first thing I had to cook when I got home.

For this recipe, I’ve applied the techniques Ilan taught in his demo, but chose to make pork instead of lamb ribs. The whole process takes anywhere from 10-12 hours.

Pork Ribs

Garlic Powder

Kosher Salt

Pepper

Basil

Smoked Paprika (Yes, I use this on just about everything)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Plastic Wrap

Aluminum Foil

1.) Season both sides of the ribs to your liking. I used a pinch of salt, garlic powder, basil, ground pepper and smoked paprika.

2.) Heat oil in a frying pan. If I had to guess I used about 2 tablespoons total (added a little bit more after this picture).

3.) Brown both sides of the ribs in oil. This took about 10 minutes.

4.) Let the ribs cool.

5.) Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees.

6.) Wrap tightly in plastic wrap (3-4 times). This is very important. It holds in the juices to help make the ribs tender.

7.) Wrap tightly in foil. You’ll need to use 3-4 layers here as well.

8.) Place ribs in a baking pan (I used a Pyrex dish) and add enough water to cover the ribs about half way.

9.) Bake in oven for 10-11 hours. The longer you cook them the more tender the ribs will be. I cooked mine for 10 hours.

10.) Place on the grill to add a nice crisp to the outsides of the ribs. I cooked mine with the burners at medium high heat for about 10 minutes on each side.

After attending last weekend’s culinary fair, I’ve been motivated to create some new recipes in the kitchen. Unfortunately, it’s challenging to find time and energy to cook during the week, but tonight I threw together these fingerling fries that are big on flavor and only take about 45 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

Fingerling Potatoes

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic Powder

Basil

Sea Salt

Pepper

Smoked Paprika

Chili Powder

1.) Thoroughly clean and scrub the potatoes.

2.) Cut the potatoes in half. This will allow the fingerlings to cook faster and also gives them a nice crisp.

3.) Toss in olive oil. I used about 2 tablespoons, but this will vary by how many potatoes you use. Just use enough oil to give the potatoes a nice coat.

4.) Put on a baking sheet (I line mine with tin foil to cut down on clean-up).

5.) Season with dry ingredients, or a combination of seasonings you like.

6.) Cook in the oven for 25-35 minutes at 450 degrees. The potatoes should be tender in the middle when done.